Flashes
by Deathly Betrayal
Summary: For you were the flash of light that made my life worth living.


**A/N) Alright, I got a prompt from my brother, and from the looks of the prompt, it's gonna be a sad story. Prompt will be revealed at the end of the story, to avoid spoilers.**

**I forgot what 'Kaede' means. HURHURHUR. On with the story! (And let's stop wasting your time)**

* * *

Kaede twirled the steely around her fingers as she watched the nearby slime bounce nearby. Biting her lip, she focused on the slime and swung her arm, watching as it stabbed right into the membrane. Sighing, she murmured to herself, "Three hundred down, six hundred and eighty-two to go."

Another slime bounced out from behind a haystack - two steelies were through the slime before it could even squeal. It died before it had a chance to live. She sniffed and turned around, jumping backwards as an orange mushroom bounded towards her, the cheerful expression permanently carved into their tan surfaces. "Hmm, I believe I need some Orange Mushroom Caps too," she muttered, accurately throwing another steely to cut off the cap skillfully, wincing as blood spurted out from the gaping wound. "...Ew."

Throwing another steely on the ground contemptuously, she growled, "Oh, I give up. This is going nowhere." Looking around, she noticed a small temple made out of white brick. "Hmm... Golems, perhaps?" she asked herself. She leaped towards the temple, sending mana through her feet in bursts of purple. She landed at the entrance, shivering at the cold wind that blew through the overshadowed tunnel. Setting her jaw, she stepped forward.

Loud growls sounded through the air and rippled into fading echoes. She walked in cautiously, alert and her steelies at her side. She could hear cries of pain - loud, echoing, inhuman sounds of pain. Someone was killing the Golems. She hastened her step and burst out into the open, where it was dimly lit by sunlight filtered through thin leaves.

She could barely make out a figure slashing at the Golems with beams of light, scratching deep engraves into the white brick that formed the Golems themselves. Even from where she was standing, she could see the glimmer of the orange crystal in the center of the Golem. She watched the figure knock down the Golem and crush the crystal in a last hit before he turned around. Flinching, she felt herself melt into the familiar coolness of Dark Sight.

"I can see you, you know."

She jumped at the voice. It was low and humored, and as he stepped closer she could see the glint of ice-blue eyes. She dismissed the skill and stepped towards the male. "I know. I'm a thief - naturally, thieves would know about their own skills," she scoffed. "Unlike you, apparently, who doesn't know a Golem's weak spot. You shouldn't have spent so much time knocking the Golem down - you should have crushed the crystal straight away," she added.

"I'm a Cleric," he stressed. "I don't do physical attacks, and my magic attacks are comparatively weak compared to the other two job lines. Even if I hit the crystal first, I wouldn't have enough time to crack it straight away," he sneered. "I should know. I've been training here for hours."

"And how many Golems did you kill in that span?" she snorted. "Thirty?"

"Fifty-five," he corrected. "I'm not that weak. Unlike other Clerics - hey, look out! Behind you!"

Kaede immediately cartwheeled to the side, dodging a Golem's swipe. Panting, she murmured, "That was a stupid move. I should have been on guard the whole time - I owe you one, by the way," she added, turning towards the Cleric. "What's your name? I'm Kaede."

"Tenmetsu," he introduced himself, frowning. "It means 'Flashes'... whatever that may be. As for owing me one... why don't you help me train, and we can throw away that debt?"

Kaede nodded, holding out a few steelies. "Ready for action," she joked. Tenmetsu smiled slowly, raising his wand and disappearing in a flash of light. Kaede readied her steelies and flash-jumped away.

* * *

_Three hours later..._

"Thanks for the training time," Kaede laughed. Tenmetsu smiled in return, tapping his wrist with his wand. Sparks of green flooded out from the tip of the wand, and the Assassin immediately felt more refreshed. "Thanks for the healing too," she added.

"Thanks for helping me to train too," Tenmetsu smiled, pocketing his wand. "Want to come here again tomorrow?"

Kaede frowned. "Hmm, I'll have to get back to you on that. I'm not exactly sure."

"I'll be waiting! And don't think that I won't be training either! The next time we meet, I'll kill more than you!" Tenmetsu boasted. Then he looked down at his clothes, inspecting the tears on them carefully.

"Try me!" Kaede yelled back, laughing.

"Aw, darn! I have to fix my clothes too!" Tenmetsu whined. "I don't have the time or money for that!"

Even though Kaede had only known Tenmetsu for a short time, she had already warmed up to him and his cheerful, joking ways. He had known when to be serious and when to joke around and to be and idiot. _A cute idiot,_ Kaede thought to herself. _Wait. What am I thinking!?_

"So, see you tomorrow?" Tenmetsu asked, making it more of a statement than a question. Kaede grinned.

"I'll try my best, but no promises!" she laughed.

Over days, they met and laughed and trained together. Slowly, Kaede began to fall for Tenmetsu. However much she tried to impress him, he would just shrug it off and laugh. They met for hours at a time, and slowly days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months.

And the months turned to years.

Still she hid it in.

Tenmetsu laughed and met up with her for yet another training session. His lowly Cleric robes had been exchanged for high-classed Bishop robes, and his Chronos was exchanged for a Dragon Wand. She smiled back, the barest of blushes forming on her cheeks.

"You feeling okay, Kae?" Tenmetsu asked, concerned.

_For a Bishop, he's quite dense,_ Kaede thought to herself. She smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You sure? You feel like you're running a high fever..." Tenmetsu murmured. "Or it could be just me being overly concerned..."

_Overly dense._

Kaede grinned. "Yeah, let's go! Where to?"

"How about the Temple Of Time?"

"Seems like a good choice for me!" Kaede laughed.

After being transformed into dragons with ruby-red scales, they spent a few minutes commenting on how stupid they looked. Eventually, however, they reached the Temple and started attacking the Monks that gathered at the entrance. "Come on! Let us through!" Kaede complained, before brandishing her Hwabis. The Monks, though monsters, aren't stupid, and they backed off immediately. They easily made their way through towards a narrow corridor in which no mob could get into.

"I wish I could do that! My wand isn't intimidating enough!" Tenmetsu complained. Kaede smirked at him.

"You're the one that decided to be a Bishop here!" Kaede laughed. Tenmetsu pouted. Kaede immediately whacked him on the head with her Caster. "Don't make that face! You look stupid and immature!"

"I don't wanna grow up though! You can't make me!"

"Yes I can!"

"How?"

"By doing this!"

With that, she pounced on him. Immediately, she noticed the awkward position they were in. She got up. "Uhm, sorry," she apologized quickly. Tenmetsu laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's nothing!"

Inside, she felt a twinge of sadness. But she put on a smile. "Shall we go on then?"

"Alright!"

* * *

Kaede swung her legs as she sat on the swing, hindering the momentum. She ignored it, however, and looked upwards, completely upset. "Was I doing something wrong? Why couldn't he tell?"

A pause.

"Am I not good enough?"

Another pause.

"Silly me, I'm not the only girl in his world..."

Sitting down again, she set to writing a letter. Choking back a sob, she took off the cap she had on her head all the time. Underneath, she was completely devoid of hair.

_I just hope that he's not so dense that he can't make my words sing._

She began to sing to herself. She sang the tune she composed. She sang her feelings out, and she regretted not telling him about her feelings for him at all.

* * *

Tsumetsu sighed. Casting a glance at the sealed letter nearby, he hesitated to open it. It was written in flowing, neat letters of gold, unlike Kaede's untidy handwriting. But he eventually did, and the two pieces of paper startled him.

_Tsumetsu..._

_I don't know how I can actually explain how I feel. First of all, congratulations on passing your fourth job advancement! I can't believe I didn't tell you that in the first place, when you first told me you passed! So, congratulations!_

_Secondly, I think I really love you. Your silly, immature ways... I have fallen in love with them, and with you yourself. _

_I was wondering what was wrong with me that made you not love me. I was wondering what was it going to take to make you turn your head and look at me like the couples all around us. I decided the best way to do so was to be myself._

_Thirdly, don't shun me because of this, but I have cancer. The four years I've been with you were the best I had. Tsumetsu, I'm so glad that you made my dream of being a fourth-jobber come true. The moment you read this, I'll most likely be dead. The cancer treatment **failed**, Tsumetsu. _

_So, be happy with yourself! Grendel said that no Bishop can heal me, nor ever expect to do so. The cancer had gone way too far. Thank you, Tsumetsu. Thank you for the times you spent with me, thank you for the days we trained together, thank you for **everything**._

_Kaede_

He widened his eyes with shock. Tears trickled down his cheeks and he turned to look at the other piece of paper. It was a music score, meant for a violin...

He distinctly remembered himself telling Kaede about him playing the violin once.

Picking up the violin, tightening the strings, he began to play the music. The notes flowed up and down, flowing out like tears that had to be kept in and stormed out when the person was alone. It flowed up in anger, close notes alternating up and down, before it slowly went back into notes that resembled soft weeping. It ended with a soft note...

He looked up - his tears were blurring his vision.

"I _loved _you, Kaede."

_Because you were the flash of light that made **my **life worth living._

* * *

**A/N) Did you make it to the end even after the horrible-ness? You did? I applaud you :O (But then again I hate all my works.) The prompt is, 'What's it gonna take, to make you turn around and look at me that way;to take your breath away?'**

**I was rushing. Oops. :/ But Rainy wanted to read it as soon as possible. And I played the violin before, but not like that.**

**The plot is basically, there's this girl training in Henesys. She soon decided to go to the Golem Temple, which is situated somewhere in Henesys, and met this boy. This boy was a cleric, and she fell in love with him after several months of training together. But she never told him her feelings, and her feelings persisted for years, until after she found out she had cancer. She died composing a song for the boy, telling him about her feelings. And after all that... he admitted that he had loved her too. But it was far too late.**

**This sucked.**

**It sucks.**

**A **

**Freaking**

**Lot.**


End file.
